2002 Epiphone 50th Anniversary Les Paul

I’d always wanted a nice Les Paul since I was a teen, and preferably a black one with binding, but never had the funds to justify getting one, nor wanted to put me in hock for some time. Luckily, this model showed up in a Long & McQuades attic sale in 2009. A Korean-made epiphone take on a ’57 Les Paul Custom, it’s nicely done and plays as good as any US Gibson model, with pretty decent pickups. It’s also a limited edition (mine is #1214 of 2002 manufactured), and its “Caution! Slippery With Drool!” features include gold hardware, gold ornate Grover machine heads, a gold truss rod cover, and this killer graphic on the back which talks about Les’ association with the Epiphone company. A really sophisticated looking piece that’s got killer sustain and tone for rock, blues and jazz. I feel like putting on a suit when strapping this one on!

Wolfie!

This is my genuine U.S made Peavey Wolfgang Special Stoptail, which I managed to find at Long and McQuades for a song back in 2005. Yes, I am aware it looks like a grapesicle (It’s purple), and it only has one knob, but this thing is all-powerful, particularly the incredible neck pickup. plug this into the distortion channel of an amp and you don’t need any dirt  box. the neck is also set up nicely for two-handed tapping. I think this guitar is much nicer than the ones evh is currently making, with a more open tone.

squier telecaster custom II

Fender’s best-kept secret bargain? take the ’72 Telecaster Custom design and replace its humbucking pickups with a nice set of p-90 soapbars. in my case, i modded it by taking off the cheesey amp knobs and replaced them with barrel knobs, replaced the plastic nut with a graphtec tusq, and substituted genuine fender steel saddles for the stock mystery metal ones. the result is a toneful tele which will give you plenty of spank without the shrill “icepick to the forehead” tone of a stock tele. Also has a beautifully satin finished neck with a Fender “C” profile. sticker courtesy of R. stevens and his “diesel sweeties” webcomic.

Peavey Falcon

probably the most personally customized guitar of mine - start with a superstrat clone (Kahler bridge, fantastic build quality, beautifully figured ”C” neck). add three seymour duncan pickups tuned up for hi-gain sounds (Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, lil’ screamin’ demon), a roland GK-2A guitar to MIDI pickup, and a tremel-no (for switching from trem to hardtail mode). Excellent for metel tone, but also versatile for jazz or clean stuff. The thing’s as heavy as a Les paul, and it feels better sitting down with it.

fender highway 1 HSS Strat

if you want a great U.S. Stratocaster but don’t have much dinero, this is mucho value. the single-coils on these have great bell-tone without being too “clinky”. The neck is a “C” profile with a rosewood fingerboard and satin finish (plays like butter), and the body is alder with a nitrocelluose finish. Mods I did include a wilkinson 5+1 Vintage trem (I find the arms on the stock trem too flimsy and easy to break) and a seymour duncan JB humbucker. the guitar I go for when i’m in a hendrix or jeff beck mood. I call this the “unofficial fast eddie clarke signature model” :)

Novation 49 SL controller keyboard

even with a midi-equipped guitar, ya just gotta have a more accurate controller for entering drum or piano-style info!  this is a nice feeling keyboard with an interesting “automap” interface for controlling soft synths or sequencers with the knobs and buttons. includes aftertouch. also a transpose key for getting into upper or lower registers.

peavey millennium BXP bass

bass is an integral part of my music, and i need something that’s easy to play while giving me the type of tone I need. this is nice and light (basswood body) and a slim neck. two duncan classic stack jazz bass pickups killed the hum and warmed up the tone, while a wilkinson vintage brass saddle bridge stabilized the tuning. sounds great plugged directly into the mixing board before being massaged with an amp modeling sim (IK Multimedia Ampeg SVX UNO or Guitar rig 3).dig that fake burl finish!

Roland GI-10

the other half of the roland guitar synth system! The infamous “Jarl Sigurd model” actually works great with the GK-2, and with some tweezing offers pretty good tracking., especially with soft synths. still, you have to be more accurate when playing this, as sloppy playing will manifest itself as “no compute”

digitech RP250 modelling pedal

when dealing with noisy neighbors and upstairs tenants, I need something to allow me to track guitars quietly. The RP250 has a number of great sounding amp sims, two killer wah pedals, a variety of distortion effects, lush lexicon reverb and delay, and even digitech’s famous “whammy” and intelligent pitch shifting. the thing’s also a USB sound card, so you can record directly to the computer if you want. You can also “deep edit” this with the X-Edit software on your computer. My biggest peeve is with the two buttons, as it’s too easy to accidentally knock into another program in the middle of that perfect take!

DAW Central!

the nerve centre of “Fortress of solitude studios” is an apple intel mac mini with 4 gigs of ram, an outboard usb 250 gig drive, a 500 gig drive for backup, a 19” viewsonic LCD monitor, and currently uses microsoft keyboard and wireless mouse. I use Steinberg Cubase studio 5 software for recording, and load it with a variety of pro and freeware soft synths and effects (I especially like native instruments’ line of VSTs like FM8, B4 and guitar rig). my audio card is a presonus inspire firewire unit

doctor who diorama

hey, i gotta show my geek cred! :) if the universe is being threatened by daleks, cybermen or a giant freddie mercury, the doctor is your man for the job.......well, that, a plucky companion  and a shooty dog thing...........